German Restaurant using pool noodles to social distance while dining outdoors. The Hill.
One part of the phases of reopening businesses in MA is restaurants being allowed to open their outdoor dining while practicing social distancing. Many folks have been wondering how that would work. What do you think?
The city will have to let any restaurant take over most of the sidewalk infront of their business…
Without this, I doubt many businesses can survive at only half capacity inside..
Any restaurants which were primarily accessed by customers using public transportation should be given free parking on nearby city streets.
… and i think it would be very fair for the city to discount any local taxes for the next 6 months
What might be interesting is closing Union Street to traffic between Herrick and Langley and let all the restaurants along that stretch spill out into the road. Keep the center of the street as a walkway. Try it for the summer as an experiment
The city can’t and shouldn’t allow businesses to take over “most” of the sidewalk in many areas (depending on definition of most).
Sidewalks are the appropriate locations for most pedestrians. They are as close as possible to accessible routes under ADA standards. They also provide social distancing for through travelers. Few of our sidewalks are wide enough for safe passage and dining.
The appropriate real estate for restaurant space comes from parking. That could be street parking reclaimed using parklets, or it could be parking lots (private or public) repurposed.
Limiting parking will also limit crowding in business districts. Handicapped parking spaces can be maintained. Well designed parklets and at-grade seating might actually be better for accessibility (no steps to get into restaurants).
Not sure how restrooms will be handled (especially because hand washing is so critical).
Most of us are not privileged to be able to walk (or uber) to our favorite restaurants… parking needs to be one less headache to deal with
Sidewalks need to serve people walking. Space in commercial areas needs to be allocated for the safety of the public and to help support businesses as they serve their customers. Same as it’s always been. The definition of what “safety” means is just changed now.
Bugek, are you saying there’s some expectation that people must be able to find parking immediately near their favorite restaurants (now or ever)? I think there’s a much stronger case to be made that, to avoid the risk of crowding, we should restrict parking, using that space to provide public benefit with more space for distancing.
This is still Newton. A five minute walk will find you a parking space (probably free) near every address in the city. Balance that possible inconvenience with the existential threat faced by our businesses and restaurants.
We will maintain handicapped spaces so those that can’t walk don’t need to. We also have possibilities of converting traditional parking to “live parking only” for sidewalk pickup in areas that need it. In a small number of other places we might be able to drop a travel lane and use it for parking or commerce. Again, the need for convenient multi-hour parking or driver convenience is now trumped by the new realities of public health and commerce.
Here is the headline from Berkeley CA
“Berkeley Will Fully Close Its Streets to Create Giant Outdoor Dining Rooms”
Mike,
I guess what I’m saying is .. prioritize the needs of the restaurant owner.
Many will be extremely lucky if they are still in business next year. The needs of the restaurants should override any agenda from the city…
Bugek, everything I outlined is in the interest of the business owner and the public.
No thanks. Let’s continue to maximize the interests of the public before we prioritize the needs of any particular group. The plight of restaurant owners is certainly distressing, but at this point so are the prospects facing many other groups that are in dire financial straits. Maybe in addition to constantly hearing about “what restaurant owners need,” we could also hear “what cashiers at TJ Maxx need,” or “what daycare workers need,” or “what furloughed city workers need.”
@Michel. I’m a member of the Newton Highlands Area Council and we’re embarking on a campaign to get more village residents to order pickup takeouts from several of our great and civic minded restaurants that are providing this service during the pandemic. We’re doing this because we know it is part of our mandate as this village’s representative council and because it is something we can directly influence. Helping the other employee groups you note is also important, but I rather suspect that viable solutions will involve strong and coordinated action by state and federal authorities.
That said, I agree that a more comprehensive look at the full range of “working stiffs” affected by this pandemic has to be front and center in the months and years ahead. but it’s also pretty apparent that many if not most of these lower income folks were already under pretty heavy financial, and work and health care related stresses before the virus appeared on the scene. I cite as evidence my recent involvement in Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign. One of the very bright spots was the unexpectedly large number of 5 and 10 dollar donations he received from front line workers in all parts of the service economy including, I suspect, from day care centers, nursing homes and corporations like TJ Maxx. You can differ with Bernie’s solutions, but the donations themselves revealed the deep angst that already existed in these sectors of the economy.
And by all means let’s try a safe outdoor dining program. I suspect we could simply adopt the German model since they seem to know how to do things like this right.
@Bob, I agree with your comments although my understanding is that the restaurant sector was always been particularly challenged from a profitability and longevity standpoint, and thatit had already been under significant duress going into March. Regardless, by all means the city and the Area Council should continue to do all they can to equitably accommodate restaurant owners and any other group that needs assistance.
My objections are to @Bugek’s proposals that the city “discount any local taxes for 6 months” and/or “let any restaurant take over most of the sidewalk in front of their business,” because the former would come at the expense of education and critical city services, and as @Mike Halle points out, the latter would come at the expense of pedestrians and individuals with disabilities.
There are equitable ways to assist restaurant owners without offering special treatment or relinquishing public resources. As you say, most worker assistance will have to come from the state and federal levels and wage earners were already under unbearable stress, but I believe that, if asked, almost every group of workers/investors/residents could eventually generate a wish-list of municipal government policy changes to improve their economic plight or otherwise make their lives easier.
Close portions of the streets with a lot of restaurants and put the tables there, but figure it out ASAP because honestly we really only have a small opportunity, weather-wise to do this. By October the weather is too unpredictable and if there’s a second wave the restaurants will need to go to take out only, so let’s give the restaurants an opportunity to increase their revenue while the weather is good. Maybe also food trucks are an option around parks and people can use their picnic blankets.
Great idea. I hope the city council moves quickly on something like this.
Newton Centre takeout business was BOOMING this afternoon/evening. Cafe Sol Azteca, House of Tandoor and Farmstead Table were all hopping.
How can we even discuss outdoor dining when the Covid Police are still our in full force?
Just came off a thread I’m the Newton Covid 19 Facebook Group, where some lady was taking photos of sunbathing teenagers (girls) at Crystal Lake because they were not wearing masks. Since eating while masked is a physical impossibility, won’t al fresco dining drive the Covid Police to a complete breakdown?
Matt, I would assume that first stages of sidewalk service would be enhanced takeout and essentially controlled street vending. These activities and elements of them (such as queuing) become easier and safer when done outside rather than inside.
Even as the rules themselves are relaxed, people will still have to feel comfortable doing things like eating in public (and serving in public). We’ll get that comfort through things like city inspections (just like we do at restaurants normally), increased testing, some kind of contact tracing, and more transparent reporting of mini outbreaks.
You mention the “covid-19 police”: citizens taking it on themselves to publicly report what they view as lapses in infection protocol. I see the bad parts as well. But I like to look beyond just behavior to underlying reasons. People are scared. They are scared in the face of health and mortal danger. They are scared in the face of the unknown. They are stressed by unparalleled medical and social and financial factors, directly to them and reported to them. Constant bad news. We can understand these underlying elements and try to address them even without supporting the excesses they can breed.
I also like to try to the elements of good intentions as well as the failings in all people. As we have seen across Newton and across the country, these factors can drive people to selfless greatness. They can also drive people to potentially socially damaging behavior.
Somehow, we need to try and suppress the negative expression of the control of others and replace it with compassion for individuals and the public. Our goal should not be to punish, but educate where education is needed, and help where help is needed. We will need some element of public reporting of health violations going forward (again, much like we do in restaurants in normal times). But it shouldn’t be a weapon against others, and expression of power.
Our public policy and enforcement mechanisms will need to evolve to support this positive social direction. I think they can. Prudent and rational decisions based on evidence, with the flexibility to adapt quickly to new knowledge, will help maintain confidence and compliance. It still won’t be easy. But it’s our best shot.
I think one problem with the “covid police” is that there is not one source of definitive information. We are living with a lot of unknown. People are reading information that is conflicting with other info they are making their own determining of what is unacceptable regardless of what the Governor or other set as policy. Wearing masks indoors and avoiding close contact outdoors but not wearing a mask is not good enough for them. Too many people are judging others.
Here’s a really excellent 4-minute video by Professor De Kai on how masks can help turn the tide of infection in a community: https://youtu.be/yfeW2l8G_W4